Stranger Things: Riley's Version

Chapter Six: The Flea and the Acrobat

"What was Will saying?" Mike asked from his spot on the couch next to Eleven. They had finally gotten the limp girl to the Wheeler house and in the basement where she was promptly laid on the couch to recharge. Riley sat on the ground in front of the girl facing Dustin and Lucas. "Like home... Like home..." Mike repeated quietly to himself, "but dark?" He finished looking up at his friends.

"And empty." Lucas added head held in his hands as he thought.

"Empty and cold," Dustin confirmed. "Wait did he say cold?" He asked, legs bouncing up and down.

"I don't know," Lucas answered, "the stupid radio kept going in and out."

"It's like riddles in the dark," Riley said to no one in particular from her seat on the floor. She was chewing on her lip in worry and thought, trying to figure out what the heck Will was talking about.

"Like home. Like his house?" Mike questioned turning to Lucas.

"Or maybe like Hawkins." The other boy threw out there pointing at Mike.

"Upside down," came Eleven's quiet voice from the couch behind her.

"What'd she say?" Lucas asked, looking over at the girls.

"Upside down," Riley answered with confusion, lacing her voice.

"What?" Lucas asked again.

"Upside down.

"When El showed us where Will was, she flipped the board over, remember? Upside down. Dark. Empty." Mike explained, the party moved towards the board as Mike flipped it over multiple times showing what the girl did.

"Do you understand what he's talking about?" Lucas asked Dustin.

"No," was his answer.

"Come on guys, think about it," Mike told the group. Riley had finally stood up and was pacing back and forth in thought. "When El took us to find Will, she took us to his house, right?"

"Yeah and he wasn't there," Lucas told Mike, still confused on where he was going with this.

"No, but what if he was?" Riley chimed in, stopping her pacing to look at the boys, "What if we just couldn't see him because he's in another plane of existence?"

"What if he's on the other side?" Mike continued, Dustin and Lucas both still looked confused, so Mike continued on explaining. "What if this is Hawkins and..." Mike pointed to the regular side of the board, "this is where Will is?" He flipped the board and pointed to the black side.

"The Upside Down." Riley finished standing above her friends with a bit of a smile.

"Like the vale of shadows," Dustin added with wide eyes looking at her who nodded back, face filled with excitement. Dustin quickly went to grab the D & D book from his bag flipping through it to find the vale of shadows section. "'The Vale of Shadows is a dimension that is a dark reflection or echo of our world. It is a place of decay and death.'" He read, "'A plane out of phase. A place of monsters. It is right next to you, and you don't even see it.'" He finished looking up at his friends. This caused Riley to start pacing again. They know where the boy is but how are they supposed to get to the upside down? How did Will get there in the first place?

"An alternate dimension." Mike said, drawing her back to the table.

"But... how... How do we get there?" Lucas asked, bringing up Riley's exact thoughts.

"You cast Shadow Walk." Dustin said like it was that easy.

"In real life, dummy." Lucas shot back.

"We can't shadow walk, but...maybe she can." Dustin answered, Riley could've slapped herself, of course the girl with superpowers, why didn't she think of that.